The Girl is Mine
by CoffeeIsMyKryptonite
Summary: Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry have competed for everything since they were kids; roles, attention, spotlights, even grades. So when the greatest prize of them all is up for grabs, they're both willing to pull out all the stops to win.
1. Trouble In Paradise

**Everyone familiar with a sitcom? Consider this like a pilot. **

* * *

><p>Too occupied ogling herself in the mirror, Santana Lopez didn't notice the curly-haired reporter until it was too late.<p>

"Lopez! Care to comment on the recent split?" The timid boy asked, inching closer to the girl's turned back.

Irritated at the disruption of her "me" time, Santana slammed her locker closed hard enough to catch the attention of a couple of kids down the hall, to which she gave her most disgruntled look before twirling around to address the boy behind her who was a little too close for comfort and whose eyes immediately fell to her chest.

"A: You've got about half a second to get all up out my grill before shove that microphone down your esophagus and make you listen to the sound of your little buddies drying up due to inactivity."

The boy immediately took a step back.

"B: What the hell are you blabbering about Jewfro?" With a hand to his face, she cut him off before he could elaborate. "And C: It doesn't matter, because I've already lost interest in this conversation." With a whip of her cheerio's pony, she began making her way in the opposite direction.

Averting his attention to his cameraman, the Jewish boy blanched at the flop of an interview. "Uhh…Ms. Lopez is not available to comment at this time."

And just then, one Rachel Berry happened by, in the same direction Santana had earlier strode down. "But! I'm sure Captain of the Glee Club, Rachel Berry, would love to comment on today's hottest story." His eyes sparkled with the opportunity to spread gossip, as he bomb rushed the unsuspecting songbird

With a dramatic sigh, Rachel addressed the boy now standing in her way. "Jacob, I really cannot partake in any interview at the moment, I'm running late for Glee as is. And as captain, it is really not good showmanship to be tardy."

"We won't be long! The people would just like to hear your opinion on the recent split: what went wrong with McKinley's happiest couple?"

Rachel's eyes lit up with her smile as the boy shoved the microphone closer to her face.

* * *

><p>Strolling into the choir room, fashionably late as always, Santana was surprised to notice several of the Gleeks missing. Mr. Shue had yet to arrive, but that was hardly a surprise. Wheels was a no-show at the moment. Probably got knocked over in the hall like those old women in the life alert commercials. She snickered to herself at that thought. The overgrown man-child walked in behind her with fishlips and Aretha, whispering amongst themselves about something she couldn't be bothered to threaten out of them.<p>

She squinted at the group when she realized the hobbit had not walked in with them. Though she'd never admit it, she was always hyperaware of the girl's presence. But not because she liked her. Absolutely not.

Long ago, Santana had come to the conclusion that Rachel Berry was her one true nemesis.

Rachel Berry was like the itch she could never scratch, the pain in her ass; the bane of her entire existence.

They'd met in the 5th grade and it had all went down hill from there. They had been down each other's throat since Rachel had tried to dethrone her as 'Queen of the Playground' a title Santana had been quite proud of. Declaring she had superior grades and could sing better than everyone in their grade, it was only right that she was the queen. They had fought about it for weeks.

From that moment on they had competed for any and everything; grades, attention, roles, clubs, positions, even friends (although Santana's fairly certain her status as a Cheerio guaranteed that for her).

Always prepared to show up the songstress at any given moment, Santana had become frighteningly aware when the girl was around or not.

Deciding against sitting with any of those that had decided to show up on time, she took her usual seat next to Brittany, surprised the girl had beat her here. Doing a quick glance around the room, she sneered when she took notice of the empty seats furthest from her left. One belonged to her home girl Quinn, whose absence she was immediately aware of upon entering the room, and the other to the other thorn in her side.

Sugar Motta.

If there was anybody that she hated more than Manhands Berry, it was the talentless, waste of space, Sugar Motta. She absolutely loathed that girl. She was the dimmest, brattiest, most self-absorbed person Santana had ever come across in her life, and being in Glee Club, that was saying a lot. She was sure the only reason the girl had gotten in the club was because her parents had paid her way in.

Which was, come on its Glee Club, that's just pathetic.

Santana shook her head as she thought about the girl.

Those were all the reasons Santana hated Sugar Motta. But there was one reason that she loathed the girl entirely. Above all else, Sugar Motta had gotten her grubby grasp on the one thing that Santana Lopez had always wanted but never had.

And she loathed her for it.

Speaking of the devil.

To Santana's utter dismay, Sugar Motta walked through the door. To her utter surprise, the girl walked in alone. (And to her utter delight, the girl seemed far from her usual chipper self). The hushed whispers that had been going on around her suddenly dispersed as Sugar made her way to her usual seat.

"Do you think the rumors are true?" Brittany whispered in her ear. Having been in her head for the majority of the time she was sitting next to her girl, Santana had no idea what the girl was referring to.

Before she could ask for clarification, Mr. Shue finally decided to announce his presence as he walked in, Rachel hot on his heels.

She couldn't help but notice the chirpy smile on the girl's face as she walked past her to take her seat behind her.

It made her stomach churn.

"Sorry I'm late guys! But let's just get on it, huh?" Shuester started. "Let's think Nationals! We need song ideas."

To absolutely no one's surprise, Rachel's hand shot in the air.

They spent the next ten minutes trying to shoot down the girl's insistence to perfume yet another Journey song. All the while, Santana couldn't help but notice the obvious (at least to her) absence of one Quinn Fabray. Just as she began to pull out her phone to demand why the blonde had decided to ditch and not invited her, the aforementioned girl came shuffling through the choir room door.

The arguing amongst the room came to an eerie halt as the singers all turned their attention to Quinn who, with her cheerio's hood covering her head, quietly made her way to the stands, head unusually bowed.

She seemed…somber.

"Nice of you to join us Quinn," Mr. Shue remarked regarding the girl's tardiness, "We're just gearing up for nationals!" the instructor continued, decidedly oblivious to the girl's solemn appearance.

"Sorry, Mr. Shue" was the only response the man got and needed as he nodded his head and continued on.

Santana stared the girl down as she made her way to sit down, silently hoping her captain would look up so she could make eye contact. Her eyes widened considerably, as did those of her fellow gleeks (save Berry, she noted), when Quinn opted out of her usual seat next to Sugar Motta in the back, instead taking the one on the furthest end of the front row.

Santana couldn't help glancing back at Sugar to see her reaction (she also couldn't help the giddiness she felt at the downcast look on the girl's face.)

There was definitely trouble in paradise.

Everyone seemed to get over the initial shock of Sinn's (as Sugar had disgustingly dubbed the couple) separate seating quickly as they once again tried to keep Rachel from dominating the National's set list.

"The rumors are totally true" Brittany whispered in Santana's ear once again. "Look, they didn't even sit together."

Finally catching on to what Brittany had been trying to tell her earlier, Santana responded, "Yeah something's definitely up with Brangelina over there. I haven't seen those two NOT make nasty frog eyes at each other all year. It's been a challenge keeping my breakfast in my stomach for just as long." The bitterness behind the sentiment had not been intentional.

"Everybody's talking about it. Apparently something big went down yesterday, but neither of them are saying anything."

"Then how does anyone know something 'big' went down?" Santana snarked, just as curious herself.

"Hmm, I don't know, San. Maybe the stork on my roof had babies and they told everyone. You can learn a lot from little birds. Everyone knows it's something, just not what."

"Maybe Q finally saw Motta without all that gunk smeared on her face and is trying to figure out how she's possibly going to wake up next to that for the next 3 years." Santana sniped.

"You thought they'd only last 3 years after graduation?"

"Hell yeah. My girl's going to be somebody someday, and Motta, while she may have the funds, doesn't exactly have the face or body of the ideal trophy wife. Q's bound to figure that out at some point in college. Bitch doesn't even cook and we all know how Quinn feels about her bacon."

Santana had the displeasure of learning all the dos and do nots of Sugar Motta via Quinn. The couple had been together since the end of their junior year and had been joined like Siamese twins since. Despite how unwilling her audience was, Quinn had always felt compelled to tell her best frienemy the going-ons within her relationship with Sugar.

Like how the girl won't touch a stove, but always kept her laughing. How she lacks tact (the Fabrays had been less than impressed when introduced) but she knew exactly what to do to cheer Quinn up. How the girl was quite demanding in bed, but her willingness to experiment made up for it.

Santana had always suspected Quinn was a freak.

It sickened her how sprung Quinn was for the girl and she hated hearing about it.

Santana assumes it was karma for making Quinn suffer through the brief escapades of what was formally known as Brittana. A part of her always hated that Brittany had made that up and spread it. She likes to think that it was part of the reason she and Brittany didn't work out.

There was a moment of silence as Brittany pondered Santana's comment, "I can cook Quinn bacon!"

Long since used to the way conversations tended to deviate with Brittany, Santana took the exclamation in stride. "Of course you can, and probably a million times better than prissy pants over there. You'd probably tickle her pickle better, too." She smirked.

"Nah San, I tried. I don't think Quinn's pickle likes my tickles."

Santana's smirk dropped as she just stared at the girl for a second. That one had threw her off a bit.

Before she could get some clarification on what exactly the girl meant by the comment, the last member of the group rolled in.

"Artie, glad to see you," Mr. Shue could hardly contain his eye roll at being interrupted yet again.

The boy, intending to roll to his usual spot, took a sharp-turn when he saw Quinn sitting next to it. In obvious avoidance of the blonde cheerio, he wheeled himself over to the other end, sitting next to the blonde cheerio who was likely to be more pleasant towards him.

"Now wheels is acting like Quinn broke his brakes…again." Santana murmured to herself, "What the hell is going on?" The last time the boy had been actively avoiding Quinn like the plague was after he had serenaded her girlfriend during glee with a Bruno Mars song, encouraged by the crush everyone knew he held for Sugar. Quinn has always had an ugly green monster on her back. Also, she hated Bruno Mars. Obviously, she hadn't reacted to well to the song. It ended in Artie needing to learn to adjust to a new wheelchair.

"Yo wheels" She called to the boy sitting on the other side of Brittany "You're looking more squirrelish than usual. What's got your panties in a twist?"

"I-I'm perfectly fine, Santana. Just got pushed over by some hockey players on the way here, is all. I appreciate the concern though." He smiled.

Santana had mastered the art of fake smiles when she was 13 and successfully convincing her parents the bruise on her neck came from her curling iron. It was a skill that had come in handy many times, from getting her dad to pay for her boobjob to convincing Quinn that joining Glee Club was a surefire way to spy on her then boyfriend Finn Hudson sophomore year. She hadn't actually had two shits to give for the overgrown man-child and was more interested in finding yet another way to outshine his now ex-fiancé.

Santana could spot a fake smile a mile away. And Artie's smile was as fake as Tina's blue eyes.

Artie was lying and her Mexican-third eye told her his busted nerves had something to do with Quinn and Sugar (she refused to ever call them Sinn. Just no.)

* * *

><p>Santana had hoped to catch Quinn after glee to grill her on what was wrong and why she hadn't told her, but the blonde had run out of the room so fast one would think that Sue Sylvester was running behind her with her bullhorn. At this point, she'd have a better chance corning the girl after Cheerios practice.<p>

Walking to practice with Brittany in tow, the subject matter came up between the two again.

"I talked to Sugar and she's really sad, San." The girl looked like someone had just kicked Lord Tubbington. She had a weird ability to empathize with everyone and more often than not the girl found herself sharing in her friends' pain.

"Well Q didn't look so hot either. She ran out of glee like a bat out of hell. Did Motta tell you anything?" the brunette inquired.

"No, she wouldn't tell me what happened or what the 'big thing' is. But she's really upset that Quinn doesn't want to be her boyfriend anymore. I told her it was probably because Quinn's never really liked candy that much and that if she's really lonely then she should call Puck because he's always staring down her shirt."

"Please, Puck would fuck anything with legs, and they don't even have to work." Santana rolled her eyes.

"Wait" Santana stopped walking, "Did you say Quinn doesn't want to be with Sugar anymore? As in, they're donezo?" She decidedly ignored the pang of hope in her chest.

"Yeah, San. Everyone knows that. It's even on Jacob's site" Brittany said as she forced Santana to start walking again.

"Is that what the troll doll was blabbering about this morning?" She questioned then smirked. "Well, Q-ball finally grew a pair and threw daddy's little girl to the curb."

"Yup, and now they're both depressed. Ooooh, I wonder if they would do an interview on Fondue for Two" Brittany squealed at the prospect.

"It's about time." Santana whispered, ignoring her blonde partner-in-crime.


	2. Remember?

_**"What's real is something that the eyes can't see, what the hands can't touch, what them broads can't be, and that's you."**_

**-Jermaine Cole**

* * *

><p><em>Rachel had never thought that a slushy could be so cold.<em>

_Although she wasn't too familiar with them as her fathers hadn't allowed her too many sweets as a child, she can't remember the few she had reminding her so vividly of Ohio's icy showers. _

_She could barely register the laughter around her over the blood rushing to her ears. She couldn't tell if she was more angry or embarrassed; her emotions were everywhere. She was definitely confused. But above all else, she was hurt. _

_Using her now soiled sleeves to wipe away the tear-laced slushy from her eyes, she made her way to the girl's bathroom as quickly as her feet would carry her. _

_Entering the bathroom, she didn't bother to check the stalls to make sure she was alone. She immediately ran for the sinks in hopes there was still a chance to save her favorite blue argyle sweater. The red coloring of the slushy was not helping at all._

_Turning on the water, she stared at her reflection in the mirror. There was slushy everywhere, some had even managed to splatter into her hair. _

_She didn't realize she was crying again until she felt the tears drip onto her hands, clenching eitherf side of the sink so hard her knuckles grew pale. _

_As she sobbed quietly to herself, she failed to hear the stall behind her open and the sink next to her turn on. _

"_Are you okay?" Came a raspy voice filled with concern._

_Not wanting to be embarrassed any further by crying in front of stranger, Rachel tried her best to sound like she wasn't just Carrie-d in the middle of a hall full of her peers. "Y-yes, I'm fine. Thanks for asking." She refused to look up to meet this strangers eyes. _

_She hoped her voice didn't betray that her eyes still glistened with tears. _

_For a moment there was silence. The sullied girl assumed the stranger had decided to drop it. _

_Suddenly there was a body invading her personal space and a finger swiping across her right cheek. _

"_You're covered in red juice. And from the looks of it, not by choice. So either you're a really messy eater" the girl chuckled at her own joke "or you've been introduced to McKinley's most asinine tradition that I've been hearing so much about." She traded in her smile for an eye roll. _

"_I wouldn't be so uncoordinated as to spill an iced beverage all over myself." Rachel mumbled in response. _

"_So it was the latter then. I figured, but, well yeah. I'm really sorry. Some people can be real assholes." _

_Rachel was kind of stunned at the apology. Here was a total stranger apologizing for something she had played no part in. The rest of her peers had just laughed as she was essentially assaulted in the middle of the hallway. She had already chalked up the entire school to be a hellhole full of Neanderthals. _

_Finally feeling courageous enough to face this clearly out of place stranger, Rachel's eyes immediately landed on soft hazel-green eyes. If she thought this girl didn't belong at McKinley before, she was absolutely certain now. _

_This stranger was beautiful. _

_From naturally curly, blonde locks flowing just passed her shoulders to perfectly pouty lips biting into the bottom one to the scarlet hoodie that wouldn't look that good on anybody else._

_And those eyes. _

_Hazel seemed to flicker indecisively between green and gold. Rachel felt herself getting lost. _

_In effort to not get caught staring, Rachel bowed her head. "I-Its nothing you should be apologizing for. You didn't throw that cup in my face."_

"_Sure, but no one should have." The beauty responded. _

"_Really, its fine, but I really do appreciate your concern—sorry I didn't catch your name." _

_A perfectly manicured hand reached out for hers, "Quinn Fabray. Freshman" _

_Rachel timidly took her hand, shaking it. "Rachel Barbara Berry. Also a freshman." The girls palm was so warm, Rachel hardly wanted to let go. But feeling as though she would somehow scare the girl away if she just held her hand in the middle of the bathroom while covered in slushy, she reluctantly dropped it._

"_Ohio State. Is that where you aspire to go?" Rachel asked referring to the blonde's hoodie in attempt to make conversation, wanting more than anything for the girl to not leave just yet. _

_Rachel raised her head just in time to see the girl's lips twist into a smirk._

_She swooned. _

"_Yup. Ever since I was twelve, it's been my dream to go to OSU to play football and be a buckeye."_

"_Really? If you don't mind my saying, you're a bit on the petite side." The brunette blushed at making the comment in regards to the girl's body. "I know you're bigger than me, but those guys are massive. I'd be especially concerned for your safety out there." _

_Quinn chuckled at her. "I'm totally joking, Rachel. I got the sweater from my older sister, Frannie. She graduated from there last year."_

_Rachel didn't think she could be redder from having taken the girl's joke so seriously. "Well, it's still a nice sweater." _

_The blonde chuckled again. "Thanks, Rachel. I'd say the same but…" she trailed off as she gestured toward the slush still covering Rachel's sweater._

_Rachel looked down, suddenly remembering that her favorite sweater was still covered in red mush. She quickly turned away from the blonde to grab some paper towels. After cleaning off her face and the few spots in her hair, she started cleaning off her sweater, growling in frustration when she noticed it was stained underneath. _

"_I don't think that's coming out with just paper towel." The blonde said as she walked towards the smaller girl. "Unless you planned on walking around in that, you might want to change." _

"_I didn't bring an extra shirt because I was hardly expecting to be attacked by barbarians." She hadn't meant to sound so irate but it was, after all, her favorite sweater and she honestly didn't have another shirt. _

_Thinking on her feet, Quinn began taking her hoodie off, "Here, take mine." _

_Rachel's neck and ears began to burn as the girl began undressing in front of her, revealing a plain white blouse underneath "N-no, Quinn, I can't." The girl stammered. "It's your sister's, it must mean something to you." _

_Pulling the hoodie over her head, Quinn smiled, "Sure, but it'll mean more to not see you drenched in slushy all day."_

_Rachel went to protest again, but was stopped as the girl shoved the hoodie closer to her face, "Rachel. Please. Take it." _

_Rachel graciously accepted the hoodie. "Thank you, Quinn. I promise I'll have this cleaned and returned to you as soon as possible." _

"_No rush." Quinn smiled again. _

_Turning away from the girl, she began to remove her stained sweater and replace it with Quinn's._

"_If you don't mind my asking, are you new here? I've never seen you around before. Lima's pretty small, so most people are easily recognizable." As she pulled the sweater over her head, she couldn't help but smell it. Vanilla roses. _

"_I am. My family moved here from Columbus a few weeks ago. I've been trying to get unpacked and ready for school, so I haven't gotten out much. That means, of course, I'm not really familiar with anybody here. I'll be sure to avoid the people who messed up your sweater, though." Quinn answered as the small girl turned back to face her. The hoodie was a bit large on her, but it would do. _

"_My dads have taken me to Columbus a few times. It's really quite beautiful. Especially relative to Lima." _

"_Dads? Like, you have two?" At Quinn's question, Rachel immediately found herself filling with dread. Was this going to be the straw that broke the camel's back? Of course, this beautiful heroine had to have a tragic flaw. _

"_Yes." She replied meekly. _

"_That's cool. I've just got one and he's kind of a douche" the blonde grinned. _

_Rachel's head snapped up, staring the girl straight in the eyes, looking for any sign that she was being mocked. It was something she had grown accustomed to in middle school. _

_She found none._

_Rachel couldn't stop herself from falling if she wanted to. _

"_Well, hey I've been loitering in the bathroom long enough and first periods about to start." Quinn started. "Hopefully, I see you around."_

_Rachel smiled back at her in return. _

"_And hey," Rachel's breath hitched as the girl got closer, "You missed a spot." Quinn laughed as she used her thumb to wipe slush from the girl's eyebrow. _

_As Quinn made her way to leave, Rachel called out to her, "Quinn. Thank you." The girl said, genuinely. _

_Assuming she was referring to the loan, Quinn winked and exited the bathroom. _

From that fateful day in the girl's bathroom freshman year, Rachel and Quinn had what some might call a peculiar friendship. They would run into each other more often than not for the duration of freshman year. And Rachel would be slushed every now and again. Eventually, she stopped giving Quinn the hoodie back, storing it in her locker instead so she always had something to change into.

By the time they were sophomores, they were running in separate crowds. Quinn had managed to not only become one of Sue Sylvester's Cheerios, but Sue Sylvester's head Cheerio. And Rachel had claimed her rightful spot as co-captain of the Glee Club.

Although Quinn was technically McKinley royalty due to being a Cheerio, Rachel could tell the girl was trying her best to not let the title go to her head. She always stepped in when the more popular kids ridiculed or taunted her. There were even times when Quinn went out of her own way to help her.

When the Glee club had a small ticket selling completion for one of their first shows, Rachel had been in dead last. Although Quinn hadn't come to the show, she had bought four tickets from Rachel to show her support.

Though they saw each other less, Rachel refused to let it get to her. She held on to the blonde's hoodie as a symbol of their friendship, though she hadn't needed it in a while. She had an inkling that was Quinn's doing.

She had been mind-blown when Quinn joined the Glee Club. Many had assumed it was because Finn, her co-captain and Quinn's boyfriend, had joined.

She liked to believe it was for something else.

What had severely disappointed her was the baggage Quinn had brought with her in the form of Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce.

Although she didn't really have personal issues with Brittany, Rachel placed some of the blame of her drift from Quinn on the ever-present Santana.

As freshmen, Rachel had noticed the two together sometimes, but had thought nothing of it, confident that Quinn would see right through the vicious girl.

She had never been more wrong.

By the time they were sophomores the three, including Brittany, had become attached at the hips. After they all became Cheerios the students had dubbed them 'The Unholy Trinity.'

She hardly ever got a moment to hang out with Quinn without the two hovering around, Santana ready to trade sharp words with her at any given moment. They had been going at it for years with no end in sight.

After Quinn stared dating Finn, she saw her even less.

With Quinn in Glee, she finally had her chance to rekindle their friendship. It was, however, not without even more verbal altercations with Santana Lopez. The two had never hated each other more before that year.

By their junior year, Quinn and Finn had been broken up for a while, and Quinn had moved onto Puckerman. When Finn asked her out at the beginning of their junior year, she had felt awkward, but assurance from Quinn that she was completely fine with it had prompted her to accept. He was a decent guy, a great singer, and she was definitely attracted to him. Above all, she couldn't have who she really wanted so she settled.

Quinn and Puck hadn't lasted very long due to the boy's inability to remain faithful. So, for the first time in a longtime, Quinn was available. Rachel found herself trying to get up the nerve to leave Finn and finally make a move on the Cheerio. She spent her entire summer after junior year pumping herself up and preparing the best strategy to pull it off, even deciding to serenade her in glee.

She got the second biggest surprise of her life when she saw Quinn walking down the hall with Sugar Motta on her arm the first day of senior year.

She spent the first night of her senior year crying in her room. Her dads assumed she had another fight with Finn and did their best to comfort her.

The following day, Rachel told herself that she was Quinn's friend first and foremost, so she would support her relationship. But she vowed to herself, if she ever got the opportunity again to make Quinn hers, she wouldn't let it get away from her.

Presently, Rachel stood at her locker after Glee practice packing up her bag to go home. Reaching in the back, she pulled out the Ohio State hoodie she'd kept in there since that first slushy. Hugging it close, she smiled to herself as she realized that she now had the chance she had been wishing for. Placing the item in her bag, she closed her locker and made her way down the hall.

* * *

><p>All through practice, Santana couldn't keep the grin off of her face. She was sure the other girls had noticed, as many of them eyed her suspiciously the entire time. Meanwhile, as everyone's eyes were glued on her, hers were glued on Quinn.<p>

The girl didn't look nearly as down as she had in glee, but it's hard to be in a mood with Sue breathing down your back. Although her movements didn't hold the same fire they usually did, they were nonetheless flawless.

Since the moment she had first seen the girl perform at their tryouts the summer before sophomore year, she knew there was no way she wasn't going to be captain. Not even Sue Sylvester could deny the girl's talent.

That was also the moment she had realized just how attracted she was to the talented cheerleader.

The girl had looked so confident standing in front of all the upperclassman cheerios and their coach. She had moved through each move Sue called out effortlessly. Santana had caught herself staring at her friend's ass on more than one occasion.

The way she had smirked when she was finished had left Santana needing to change her panties.

She had always known Quinn was pretty. She had eyes. But when Quinn performed, she had taken on a whole different persona.

Quinn, her friend, was this quiet, kind of reserved, sweetheart who somehow managed to not only take Santana's fiery words, but throw them back at her. Their verbal spars were how they showed their love for each other.

Of the three of them, Quinn was probably the most pleasant. As much as Santana hated it, she knew that Quinn hung out with Rachel Berry, but she couldn't fathom why.

This Quinn, however, was far from the sweet and well-mannered girl she had grown fond of. This Quinn was confident, dangerous. Sexy. She was yearned to see this side of Quinn more often.

When Sue announced Quinn as the captain, Santana was positive that she would.

She wasn't wrong.

Soon, she was seeing all of Quinn on a daily basis; her sweet Quinn and HBIC Quinn. Although the blonde wasn't outlandishly rude as many captains before her, she definitely knew how to command attention. And her attraction for her fellow Cheerio only managed to increase ten-fold.

Despite the fact that Quinn had started dating Finn, Santana couldn't fight the attraction. She shrugged Finn off as a side note, sure that Quinn was with him simply because he was the quarterback. And she knew for a fact that Quinn wasn't giving it up.

Even still, she kept her attraction to herself, scared of freaking out one of the girls she considered her best friend. After all, she told herself, it's just attraction, Fabray's hot. Not like there's any feelings there. Not to mention, she herself was currently in something like a relationship with Matt Rutherford.

And for a while, that was true.

That was until Quinn decided to play knight in a shining Cheerio's top the summer before their junior year.

_Santana and Quinn had been having their bi-weekly Unholy Trinity sleepover at Quinn's house. Brittany was absent after sending a group text the day before claiming she didn't feel good. The duo had sent back a multitude of sad faces, and 'get better' texts. _

_During the sleepover, Santana continuously grilled Quinn on what she saw in Puckerman, who she had started dating a few weeks prior. "He has a ferret on his head, for God's sake." The brunette snarked as she shoved more popcorn into her mouth, not taking her eyes off the TV playing Paranormal Activity. She loved scary movies, something she and Quinn shared. They hardly got to watch them, though, because Brittany hated them. _

"_He got a haircut." The blonde replied next to her._

"_He may be able to change his hair, but he can't change his personality. He's kind of an ass, Q."_

"_So are you" Quinn smirked, "and I keep you around."_

"_Well you love me. It's different." She smiled snidely at her friend._

_Instead of a response, the girl just stared back at her, silently. _

"_Get the fuck out, Quinn! You can't love him, you only started dating him like two minutes ago!" _

_Quinn let out an airy laugh, "Of course not, Santana. Could've fooled you though." She smirked. "Jealous much?"_

"_You wish, bitch" Santana scowled as she threw popcorn at the blonde. "I just can't stand the thought of Puckerman talking his way right into your pants and having to play godmama to his spawn." Quinn only laughed harder. _

"_You'd definitely be my first choice for godmother. That way, my kid could be a little Puck with Santana influence. Imagine the terror she would raise on Lima." Santana joined in her laughter. _

_Turning their attention back to the movie, they got about halfway through before Quinn's mom knocked on her door, handing her the landline claiming it was for her. _

_Assuming it was probably Quinn's sister, Santana continued watching the film. _

"_Hello? Oh hi, Mrs. Pierce." _

_That had definitely gotten Santana's attention. Why would Brittany's mom be calling if she was at home? _

"_No, Brittany's not here. She told us she wasn't feeling well and was going to stay home." Santana couldn't stop the worry from filling her head. Brittany had lied to them. She'd never done that._

"_Okay. We'll let you know if we hear anything," Quinn said, hanging up the phone soon after. _

_Before she could ask what was happening, Quinn was pulling her shoes on. "Put your shoes on Santana." She calmly demanded, already searching for what Santana assumed were her car keys. _

_Santana complied, getting up to put her shoes on, "Wanna fill me in, Fabray?"_

_Finally locating her keys, Quinn replied, "Brittany hasn't been home all day and she hasn't been answering her phone."_

_Santana looked at the time on Quinn's alarm clock. It was almost 1 in the morning. Brittany would never stay out that late without telling __**someone**__. _

"_Hey, Santana, don't worry. We're going to go find her and everything's going to be perfectly fine, okay?" Quinn said as she grabbed the shorter girl's hand. She had obviously noticed the panic evident all over the girl's face. _

"_O-Okay." Santana attempted to shake off her nerves. "What do we do first? Where do we check? Wh-"_

_She was cut-off as Quinn placed her phone in her hand. _

"_You're going to call her, and if she doesn't answer you're going to call every person she knows. If they yell at you for waking them up, tell them to bite it. I'm going to drive through every inch of this town. And if we don't find her, we're going to drive to the next town and keep looking until we do." Santana stared straight in the girl's eyes as she spoke, noting that the girl had never looked more serious._

"_Okay." _

"_Okay, let's go."_

_Santana immediately started dialing as they made their way to Quinn's car, clad only in their pajamas._

_They had been riding around for an hour, having checked multiple parks, the school, and late-night restaurants. Santana felt like she had called at least 60 people. None of them knew anything and she was beyond frustrated. _

"_I can't believe this!" she shouted as she slammed her fists into Quinn's dashboard. "Nobody has seen or heard from her. This sucks like birdshit."_

_Quinn peered at her angry friend, curious of for her choice of metaphor. Then her eyes widened. "Wait, San. I know a place we haven't looked yet." She said, starting her car again. _

_15 minutes later they pulled up to the Lima Lake in the Ottawa Metro Park. Sure enough, they spotted a figure sitting just off the edge of the lake._

"_Figures. She loves coming here to feed the ducks." Santana scolded herself for not having figured it out sooner. _

_They both climbed out of the car and approached Brittany. _

"_Britt! Are you okay? What are you doing here?" Santana questioned, kneeling in front of the surprised blonde as soon as they had reached her. _

"_Santana? Quinn?" The blonde questioned, as her friends appeared in front of her, "What are you doing here? How did you find me?" _

"_Quinn here went all Liam Neeson trying to find your ass," Santana gestured towards the blushing blonde. "The real question is, why are you here? We were worried about you, and your parents are, too, Britt." _

_At the mention of her parents, Brittany's eyes began to water. "Guys, I think I did something bad."_

"_What is it, Britt? You can tell us anything, you know that." Santana asked softly. _

"_I left because I don't want my parents to be mad at me." The girl remarked, bowing her head._

"_Why would they be mad, Britt? What happened?" Santana pressed. _

"_B-because. I'm pregnant." _

_Santana was stunned into silence. She looked at the blonde in front of her, blue eyes pleading for help, then at the blonde to her right who looked just as shocked as she felt._

"_Wh-wh, are you sure?" Santana sputtered? _

"_My boobs really hurt, and I was throwing up a lot yesterday. When I looked on Google, it said that I was pregnant." Tears spilled down her cheeks as she continued, "My mom and dad are going to be really mad at me." _

"_Sweetie, it's okay." Quinn finally spoke up as she kneeled down and took Brittany's face in her hands. "First, we're going to call your parents and tell them you went to Tina's house and forgot to mention. And then we're going to get you a pregnancy test from the drugstore, and go back to my house so you can take it. And no matter what it says, Santana and I are going to be behind you one-hundred percent, and so are you're parents because we all love you. If you are, we'll be there with you to tell your parents, and to kick the ass of whoever is responsible, okay?" As promiscuous as Brittany was, her friends found it hard to keep up with her conquests. _

_After Brittany nodded, Quinn stood up grabbing Brittany's hand to help her up and began to walk her back to the car, Santana trailing behind them._

True to her word, Quinn not only took Brittany to buy four different pregnancy sticks, but made them all wait in the bathroom for the all the results. Much to all of their relief, every single test came back negative. They later found out Brittany had been throwing up because of food poison she'd got from eating the fondue from her YouTube show. And her boobs were hurting because…well they never really figured that part out. But it was Brittany.

Santana remembered that day like it was yesterday. She remembered being so scared for Brittany, but what she remembered more than that was realizing that she had actual feelings for Quinn Fabray.

The way the girl had been so supportive and non-judgmental of not only their friend through her short-lived crisis, but also herself. Santana was sure she was half-way to a mental breakdown that entire night. Quinn had been so calm and attentive to them both the entire night. When she spoke to Brittany at the lake Santana couldn't tear her eyes from the girl's face. She was noticing for the first time that she was more than just hot; she was beautiful.

She was sure the butterflies in her stomach had nothing to do with wanting to get into her friend's skirt.

The fact that Quinn was dating Puck haunted her for an entirely different reason after that night.

Later into their junior year, Quinn had dumped Puck after finding out he was still cleaning the pools of cougars in more ways than one. Santana couldn't believe how much of an idiot the boy could be for letting her get away.

Meanwhile, Brittana was in full swing, and Santana liked to believe that she had gotten over the 'crush' she had on her captain. That, however, didn't stop the butterflies from filling her stomach whenever she found herself alone with the girl or when they went back and forth trading sharp words.

It wasn't until she and Brittany had broken up a couple of months later, citing that they were just better off as friends (in other words: Brittany wasn't that into monogamy, and Santana wasn't that into her) that Santana would admit to herself again that she still had it bad for Quinn Fabray. The two had been growing considerably closer over the years and Santana was convinced she had never felt the feelings she had for Quinn with anyone else.

By the end of their junior year, she was ready to make her move. She was single and hot. Quinn was single and hot.

It was perfect.

Until their first bi-weekly Unholy Trinity sleepover of the summer, where Quinn decided to tell them all about the 'amazing girl' she had met at the Lima Bean. She had gushed for hours about how this girl was the most beautiful girl she had ever met, how she was hilarious, and how they had met because they had both ordered the same drink and reached for it at the same time and ended up sitting together and talking for a while.

Santana had heard that story about a thousand times. She hated it after the first.

Brittany had seemed all too excited to join in on Quinn's giddiness. Santana, however, had felt like she was just punched in the gut. She felt the second punch when Quinn announced how the girl would be attending McKinley the following semester.

The third when she found out she was only a junior.

The fourth when she found out her name was Sugar.

For the rest of the summer, she and Brittany saw less of Quinn because she was spending more time trying to get the Sugar girl to go out with her. Santana loathed hearing about the newest attempt of trying to woo the clearly delusional girl.

It was the middle of summer when Quinn announced she had scored a date with the stubborn girl.

And it was the end when Santana's heart broke after Quinn announced that she had made Sugar her girlfriend.

She had spent the following months in a one-sided relationship with one of her best friends as said best friend seemed to fall harder and harder for the dimwitted airhead.

She smiled to herself as she realized that was all over now. Having found out the couple called it quits, Santana knew she now had the chance she had been wishing for. She'd be damned if she let her girl get away again.

* * *

><p><em><strong>"We ain't picture perfect, but we worth the picture still."<strong>_

**-Jermaine Cole**


	3. Everyone Could Use A Little Help

**"It's gonna be forever, or it's gonna go down in flames. You can tell me when it's over if the high was worth the pain."**

** -Taylor Swift**

* * *

><p>After another torturous hour of Sue continuously stomping on their pride while they tried to keep their teeth from chattering for fear of Sue hearing, the ruthless woman finally ended practice. Not before, of course, taking yet another shot at their pride.<p>

"You're all a bunch of babies! You think this is cold? Try having your spouse clean out your bank account and splurge on his mistress on the day of your funeral. Now that's cold." She yelled through her ever-present bullhorn.

The cold and worn out Cheerios scattered to their locker room as fast as they could to get away from the demented woman, ignoring the woman's comment. They had long ago given up on trying to figure out if she was speaking from personal experience or just simply speaking.

Santana trailed behind the other girls, deciding to forgo taking a shower. She wanted to talk to Quinn and didn't want her captain slipping away while she was in the middle of her shower. Surely, she could talk to Quinn in the locker room, but she'd rather not have the conversation with in front of an audience.

After grabbing her duffle bag from her locker, she made her way back to the field to wait by the bleachers, pulling on her cheerio's jacket and trying her best to ignore the chilling weather. Climbing the stands to pop a squat on the bench, she stretched out her legs already missing the warmth the steam from the locker room had provided. She looked around and was surprised to see a figure sitting a couple of rows behind her.

She scowled when she recognized the figure as Rachel. She'd recognize the ugly orange knit-beanie donning the girl's head anywhere. She'd been wearing it since forever.

Standing up, she turned around to face the girl, "Berry, what the hell are you doing on my field?"

Rachel, not surprised in the least at the aggressive question, rolled her eyes. She had hoped Santana wouldn't notice her and would just leave whenever whoever she was waiting for, Brittany she presumed, showed up.

"It's hardly your field, Santana. You merely use it for practice."

"During Cheerio's practice, it's mine." The cheerleader sneered.

"But if you must know, I'm waiting for someone." Rachel continued, ignoring the girl's comment.

"No shit, Berry."

"You asked, Satan." Rachel huffed.

"I meant," Santana rolled her eyes "why are you waiting here, freezing your baby tits off? I always pegged you for a masochist. It's the only explanation for why you constantly put yourself in my line of fire."

"I'm far from a masochist, Santana. I don't get any pleasure from your presence unless, of course, it involves me upstaging you. If anything, you're a sadist." Rachel grew red from Santana's comment about her body.

"And proud." Santana smirked.

"If you haven't noticed, Santana, to my deepest displeasure, you're out here waiting in the cold as well. You could just as easily have waited for Brittany in the locker room."

"I'm not waiting for Brittany." Santana mumbled looking towards the field, avoiding eye contact. The last person she wanted the topic to come up with was Big Mouth Berry.

"Oh? Then why are you sitting out here?" Rachel asked.

Focusing her gaze back on the girl, Santana glared. "None of your damn business, Berry."

"Well, what I'm doing was none of your business, Lopez." Rachel glared back.

"Everything that happens on MY field is MY business," Santana shot back.

By now both girls were standing, staring each other down.

"It's not your field!" Rachel shouted back.

"Are you two done?" Came a raspy voice from behind Santana.

Looking down, the two saw Quinn staring back up at them with a blank expression. "What are you guys even doing out here? It's cold as hell."

"I need to talk to you." They both answered at the same time.

The brunettes turned back to each other frowning at realizing they had been waiting for the same person.

"Wow, you both waited in the cold for me? I feel so special." Quinn snorted.

"Quinn," Rachel spoke up, getting the girl's attention, "I was actually wondering if you could give me a ride home. Seeing as Finn no longer wishes to drive me, my dad has been picking me up but he got held up today, and it's a bit cold to sit and wait."

"You've got legs, Frodo." Santana piped in. "Use them."

"Santana, please. Its 10 minutes driving. I'd be frozen solid before I made it." Rachel replied exasperatedly.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." Santana smirked.

"Santana, stop." Quinn said giving her friend a stern look, to which Santana rolled her eyes. "Rachel, sure I'll drive you home. You'll have to help me get there, though."

"Of course!" Rachel answered, giving off a brilliant smile. "Thank you."

"No problem, are you ready?"

"Hold up." Santana interrupted as Rachel made her way past her. "I still need to talk to you, Fabray. I didn't sit out here freezing my ass off so you could stand me up for the bridge troll."

"Oh, right. Sorry San. What's up?" Quinn asked turning her attention to the scorned girl.

Glancing back at Rachel who was now standing beside Quinn, and suspiciously not taking her eyes off the blonde, Santana shrugged her shoulders. "It's not exactly something I want to talk about in front of Big Mouth Berry."

"Oh, is there some-"

Quinn was interrupted as Brittany approached them. "Hey Quinn! Hi Rachel! San, are you ready? My parents texted and said Lord Tubbington got into the cigarettes I hid from him. I need to get home and give him a stern talking to."

Rachel stared at the blonde, Quinn chuckled a bit and Santana rolled her eyes for the hundredth time that day.

She had forgotten that she was Brittany's ride.

"Yeah, give me a sec, Britt." Santana responded, making her way to the three girls on the ground.

Pulling Quinn to the side, Santana spoke to her in a hushed voice, "Q, I need to tell you something. And it's kind of important." Staring straight into hazel, Santana attempted to portray how serious she was through her eyes.

Quinn seemed to catch on.

"Look, San. I don't want Britt and Rachel to freeze to death waiting for us. So why don't you come over tonight? And we can talk about whatever it is you need to talk about, okay?" She squeezed Santana's hand in reassurance.

"Okay." Santana squeezed back. "I'll be over at seven."

"It's a date" the blonde winked at her.

"Only if you save me some dinner." Santana laughed, trying to ignore the butterflies in her stomach.

"Don't I always?" Quinn grinned as she let go and began making her way back to where Rachel and Brittany were waiting for them.

"Tell LT I'm not going to bring him anymore jerky if he starts smoking again." Quinn said to Brittany as she and Rachel began to walk out.

"I'll totes let him know Quinn. I hope he listens, I can't seem to get through to that cat." Brittany frowned to herself.

Santana grabbed her bag, walking towards Brittany, all the while watching the retreating figures ahead of them.

Santana had a feeling and it wasn't a feeling she liked. It was the same feeling she got when she saw Brittany and Mike Chang dancing together during Glee rehearsal a couple of months after she and the blonde had split. By the end of the week, the two were dating.

The way Rachel looked at Quinn reminded her of how Mike had looked at Brittany. How Finn had once looked at Rachel. How Quinn had looked at Sugar.

Her gut was telling her that Rachel Berry was crushing on Quinn. And, when it came to these things, her gut had yet to be wrong.

* * *

><p>Arriving in front of Brittany's house, Santana grabbed the dancer's attention before she could get out of the car.<p>

"Britt, I think Berry has the hots for Q." She had hope that her friend would laugh at the ludicrous thought and tell her the hobbit was probably still in love with Hudson. That she was just paranoid.

"Everybody has the hots for Quinn, San. I mean, she's like one of the hottest girls in school." Brittany said nonchalantly.

"No, Brittany. I mean Rachel likes Quinn. As in, like-likes Quinn." She elaborated.

"Oh yeah. But that's been like forever. I thought everybody knew that."

"Excuse me?" Santana was almost flabbergasted. There was no way that was common knowledge and she had missed it. "Brittany, how do you know that?"

"As Senior Class President, It's my job to know. Also, sometimes Rachel stares at Quinn the way Finn stares at his lunch. Like he's been in the desert for 40 hours like Jesus."

Funny, she had just thought the same thing.

"Britt, it was 40 days."

"Santana, there's no way someone could survive 40 days in the desert. They'd like starve."

Sighing, Santana dropped it. The subject of Rachel's crush on Quinn far more important than correcting her friend's reference.

"Rachel looking at Quinn like a dog in heat doesn't necessarily mean she likes her, though. Like you said, everyone wants in Quinn's skirt." That thought honestly didn't make her feel any better.

"I don't know San, I think it's more than that for Rachel. She didn't marry Finn just because Quinn refused to come to the wedding." Brittany reasoned.

"She didn't marry Finnessa because she knew Quinn was right. It was stupid and he just wanted to ride her coattails. She was bound to figure it out." Santana retorted.

"That doesn't explain why they broke up afterwards."

Santana huffed. She hated when Brittany was the more sensible one. She especially hated that she knew Brittany was right.

Rachel was clearly holding onto some feelings for her girl.

The thought made her angry.

It was one thing to lose her girl to a chick she didn't know. Losing her to Rachel Berry was incomprehensible.

"Did you want to come in, San? You could help me with Lord Tubbington." Brittany offered, changing the subject.

"That cat hates me, Britt. And I've got to make a stop. Maybe next time." She answered as Brittany got out of the car.

She waved as she made her way out of the drive-way.

_Fuck. _

* * *

><p>"Turn here, and my house will be the fourth house on the left." Rachel directed.<p>

Soon they were pulling-up in front of her house. "Thanks for the ride, Quinn. I really do appreciate it." Rachel smiled.

"No problem, Rach. Now," the blonde started as she turned to face the smaller girl. "What's this really about?"

"Wh-what do you mean Quinn?" Rachel stuttered.

"Well," Quinn began, "judging by the car parked in your driveway, I'm willing to bet you never asked your dads for a ride."

Rachel flushed at having been caught red-handed.

"So, you sat in the cold just so you could be alone with me" Quinn ticked off on her fingers, "and you're wearing the hoodie I lent you when we first met." Quinn continued, nodding towards the article donning Rachel's body.

"It was cold," Rachel tried.

"Rachel, you're one of the most over-prepared people I've ever met. You carry umbrellas whens there's like a two percent chance of rain. I know you brought a jacket." The cheerleader laughed. Her smile dropped, however, as she started again. "So, I can only assume one thing."

Rachel was sweating now. Had she been that obvious? What would Quinn think? Why was she frowning? She obviously hated the idea. This wasn't exactly how she planned for this to go. She had a plan to sweep the girl off her feet. This was…this was a disaster.

"You want to talk about Sugar." The blonde mumbled.

Rachel felt her heartbeat slow down at hearing the girls soft, and very wrong, answer.

"I get it. I was there for you with Finn, and you want to be here with me through…this." She said softly.

Rachel gazed at the object of her affection. It broke her heart to see the girl so torn up. The breakup had clearly hurt her.

"How are you, Quinn? Really?" Rachel asked softly, placing her hand on her forearm.

"I'm pissed. I'm confused. And I'm hurt." The girl responded, trying to hold back tears.

"Those are all the same feelings I had when I got my first slushy." Rachel joked, wanting desperately to see the girl smile even if at her own expense.

She only got a shrug.

"Quinn, look at me." She ordered, waiting until the girl finally made eye contact to continue. "Remember what you told me after Finn and I broke up? You told me that everything's going to be okay. And now I'm telling you. You're one of the most beautiful, intelligent and caring people I know. You're bigger than whatever she did to hurt you. And if she can't see what a great girl she let go, she's a fool." She pulled the heartbroken girl into a firm hug over the center console. "There are so many people who love you." she finished.

_More than you know _went unsaid.

"That's my line," Quinn chuckled as she wiped away a stray tear.

"Well Quinn Fabray, you've always been there for me. I'm just returning the favor." She smiled.

"Thanks, Rachel. You known, for being here." She squeezed the brunette into another hug.

"Of course, Quinn. And if you ever need to talk, I'm here."

"I know." Quinn smiled back.

"Did you want to come in?" Rachel asked as she prepared to get out of the car. "My dads would love to have you. And I could make some hot cocoa and fry up some vegan bacon."

"I can't believe they let you vegans get your hands on bacon." Quinn said in mock surprise, twisting her face into a grimace.

"Oh stop that, Quinn Fabray. Vegan substitutes are not only delicious but they are much better for your body." Rachel defended.

Quinn grinned, "As tempting as that sounds, I've got to run to the grocery store for my mom. Rain check?"

"Of course, we'll make a day of it. And I can introduce you to the wonderful world of vegan eatery." Rachel declared as she stepped out of the car.

"I can't wait." Quinn smiled.

Just as she was closing the car door, Rachel remembered she was wearing the hoodie. "Oh Quinn. Before it escapes me again, I'd like to finally return your hoodie."

"Keep it." The blonde responded with a smile.

Rachel faltered. "Are you sure?"

"Of course. Consider it a gift. It always looked better on you than it did on me." Quinn winked, smiling as she started her car.

Rachel blushed as she waved at the retreating blonde.

_That wink would be the death of her._

* * *

><p>Mercedes sighed as she made her way to the door. Someone was really eager to get in if the rushed knocking was anything to go by.<p>

When she finally opened the door, she wasn't too surprised to find Santana on the other side.

"Santana, what a nice surprise." The diva said flatly.

"You're the highlight of my day, too Wheezy. Now, are you going to let me in or make me freeze to death." Santana huffed.

"I kinda like the second option." Mercedes teased the girl as she widened the door to let her in.

"Damn. What's got your panties in a twist? Ken doll having more fun chasing fake girls than real ones again?" She retorted as she followed Mercedes to her room.

"I love that boy to tears, but when he starts talking about Star Trek or Star Wars or whatever I can't keep up with him." She shook her head as she closed her door and Santana made herself comfortable in her usual spot on the girl's bed. She and Mercedes had been friends for a while, after teaming up for their duet back in junior year. She liked being around the girl, she was fun and sassy. And when she couldn't talk to Quinn or Brittany, she always found an open ear with Mercedes.

"But you're not here to hear about my problems. What's on your mind, girl?" Mercedes asked as she, too, sat on the bed.

"I've got girl problems." Santana stated.

"Oh boy."

"More like, oh girl." Santana smirked.

"Please stop." Mercedes laughed. "So who's trying their hand at Santana Lopez's heart this time? It's not Brittany again, is it?" she asked, eyes widening in concern.

"No," Santana mumbled.

"Who then? Do I know her?"

"Yeah." Santana responded shyly. She was having trouble admitting her feelings to someone that's wasn't herself.

"Come on, spill, Santana. I can't help if you don't tell me." Mercedes pressed.

Santana took a deep breath. "It's Quinn."

"Well, can't say I'm surprised." Santana looked up at the girl. "What's that supposed to mean." She frowned.

"Well, you clearly have a thing for blondes." Mercedes laughed.

"Shut up," Santana responded as she tossed a pillow at her laughing friend. "Anyway, it's different with Quinn than it was with Brittany. Like don't get me wrong, I liked Britt. But I feel things for Quinn that I know I've never felt for anybody else. And we're not even together." She finished heavily.

"Wow, who knew Satan could have feelings?" Mercedes teased her friend again.

"Tell anybody, and ill ends you." Santana threatened half-heartedly.

"But in all seriousness, do you think you're in love with her?" Mercedes questioned.

"Wh-wh- no of course not!" Santana blushed profusely.

"Okay, Santana, because that blush and stutter didn't mean anything." Mercedes rolled her eyes good naturedly.

"Can you help me or not?" Santana huffed, sitting up and folding her arms.

"Well, what exactly do you need my help with? You clearly have feelings for her. What's the problem, I mean besides the chaos that was Sinn breaking up? Which, I guess, is good for you." Mercedes thought. "How is she, by the way? She looked really upset in Glee, and I haven't had the chance to talk to her. Figured she could probably use some space."

"Not sure. I'm going over later to see her. I'll let her know you asked about her." Santana responded to which Mercedes nodded her thanks.

"But," Santana continued, "The problem, and where I need your help, is that Berry seems to have the hots for Quinn."

"Okay, that I did not see coming," came Mercedes' stunned response.

"Neither did I. I kinda found out not too long ago." Santana muttered.

"Well, do you think she's going to do anything about it? Like, do you think she'd actually ask her out?" Mercedes questioned.

"I don't know, honestly. I feel like she would. God knows how nice Quinn is to the midget. She probably thinks Quinn likes her too."

"Well, even if she does, what are the chances Quinn would like her back?" Mercedes pondered.

"That's not a chance I'm willing to take." Santana declared.

"Okay, so Rachel might be trying to get with the girl that you apparently don't love," Mercedes grinned, as Santana glared at her, "Where do I come in for all of this?"

"Simple. I need you to help me take down Berry." Santana stated, staring the girl right in the eyes.

"Why me? Why not like, Brittany? That girl would be happy to help if she knew she was getting the chance to play cupid." Mercedes reasoned.

"No, I need you, Mercedes. Firstly, because Quinn really likes you and secondly, because no one has ever taken down Berry as epically as you have; not even me. When you practically swiped the role of Maria for West Side Story from right under her nose, even I was impressed." Santana argued.

"Okay, but why do you have to take down Rachel at all? Why not just focus on wooing Quinn?" She continued to question.

"Because if Berry likes Quinn even half as much as I do, she's not going to let anything keep her from getting her. I wouldn't." Santana answered seriously.

"But what if she doesn't?" Mercedes questioned.

"Another chance I'm not willing to take." Santana fired back.

"I see. It's just, I feel bad, Santana. I'm not Rachel's biggest fan either, but we can be civil sometimes." the diva explained.

"I really like her, Mercedes." Santana stated. And it was the most sincere thing Mercedes had ever heard come from the girl's mouth.

After watching the girl's sulking face for a few seconds, Mercedes couldn't help but relent. If she had been in the same situation with Sam's heart on the line, she'd like to think she could count on Santana. "Fine. Count me in. But I'm only doing this in the name of love. What do you need me to do?"

Santana beamed at the softhearted girl. "Nothing crazy or illegal, I promise. I just need you to help me shutdown any plans Berry may have that involve trying to get at Quinn. Sweeping Quinn off her feet I can manage on my own." She finished with a confidant smile.

"Are you sure? I mean, from what I can tell, Quinn likes her white girls. That's some tough competition to beat." Mercedes teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well, you know what they say. Once you go black, you never go back." Santana smirked in response.

"One problem there, last time I checked, you're not black." Mercedes laughed, rolling her eyes.

"When's the last time you checked my genes?" Santana retorted, smirk widening when she saw the confusion written on the girl's face.

"What do you mean?"

"My abuela is Mexican, but my abuelo's Afro-Cuban, making my mom ½ black. My grandma on my dad's side, I never met her, but my grandpa told me she was black Puerto Rican. So that makes me some mathematical percentage black." Santana finished.

"I learn something new about you every day, Santana. That's a lot of culture." Mercedes acknowledged, laughingly.

"Tell me about it," Santana rolled her eyes "Holidays are a struggle."

"Well, I'm always happy to help a sista out," Mercedes laughed.

* * *

><p>Despite promising to come at seven, Santana showed up to Quinn's house closer to seven-thirty. She may love the girl, but she couldn't afford to look desperate and pathetic. She had a reputation to uphold.<p>

Judy Fabray answered the door and informed her that Quinn had stored her saved dinner in the stove. The woman was so used to Santana and Brittany's presence in her home, it no longer surprised her when her daughter would make extra plates of food only to put them away.

Santana thanked her before heading straight to Quinn's room. She'd eat later.

She thought she'd find Quinn lying on her bed doing homework or engulfed in an episode of Breaking Bad (the girl was obsessed. She'd gotten through 3 seasons in like a month). What she hadn't counted on was finding her best friend lying flat on her floor, tears streaming down her face.

"What the hell, Q?"

If the girl was embarrassed about being caught crying, she didn't show it. Her brilliant hazel eyes opened to assess Santana before closing to resume crying. Santana sat next to her sobbing friend, holding her hand until the blonde's sobs had subdued enough that Santana felt she could talk to her. "Why are you crying, Quinn?" she asked as softly as she could.

"Because I knew you were coming, and I knew that you'd want to talk about Sugar. And at first I thought I could handle it because I was with Rachel and she made it better and offered me bacon, but then I just kept thinking about her, and I couldn't stop, and now I'm on the floor" the blonde whimpered through sniffles.

Santana had never hated Sugar Motta more than she did in that moment.

"We don't have to talk about it." Santana responded after a brief silence.

"Thank you." The blonde whispered.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sound coming from Quinn's quiet sniffling. Santana just quietly enjoyed the feeling of Quinn's hand in her own.

"Santana, have you ever been in love?"

The brunette's eyes widened. The question had definitely caught her off guard. Although they weren't talking about it, Quinn was obviously still thinking about it.

"I think so." Santana answered honestly. She expected the blonde to fire questions at her demanding to know who it was. She was relieved when she didn't.

"How did you know?" The sniffling blonde questioned.

Santana wasn't sure how she felt about describing her feelings to the girl she was harboring those feelings for. Against her own discretion, she answered anyway. "As cliché as it may sound, I think I just knew. One day it just hit me and I didn't really know how to unfeel it, ya know. It was like the feeling you get when you wake up in the morning an hour before you need to be up; exciting because you get more sleep, but scared as hell that if you go back to sleep you won't wake up on time. But also knowing that if you do it right, everything would be perfect and all the fear would be worth it."

"Was it worth it?" Quinn asked, eyes closed.

"I think so." Santana whispered back, staring at Quinn's face.

"Quinn," Santana started grabbing the blonde's attention. "Are you in love with Sugar?" It took everything in Santana to ask, but she knew it was important for her to know.

There was a moment of silence before Quinn answered. "I don't think so." Santana didn't realize she was holding her breath until all the air rushed out of her chest at the girl's answer. "I think I could've been, though." The blonde's eyes began to tear up again. She slammed her fist into her carpet. "I could've been and it doesn't even matter."

Santana was quickly on her feet. "Put on your shoes, Q."

"I don't feel like going anywhere." Quinn muttered from her position on the floor.

"It wasn't a question, Fabray. Get up and put on your damn shoes before I do it for you and throw you over my shoulder. You know I will." Santana threatened. "We're going on a little trip."

* * *

><p>After a 15 minute car ride, an excited Santana and a reluctant Quinn reached their destination.<p>

"Why are we in a junkyard, Santana?" Quinn questioned, confused.

"You'll see. Get out." She demanded as she got out and immediately went for her trunk.

Quinn hesitantly followed her behind the car, surveying the dirty lot.

"Found it!" Santana declared wielding a baseball bat she'd pulled from her trunk, "glad I kept that in there."

"Whoa! What are you doing with that? Is that why you brought me here? So you could kill me and hide my body?! I wasn't that bad, was I?" Quinn questioned, backing away from her friend.

"Quit being so dramatic, Quinn. You sound like Berry. Here," Santana said holding the bat towards Quinn.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Quinn questioned, taking the weapon.

"Relieve some stress. Right now, you've been dealing with your hurt by crying. You're sad, so that's okay. But, you're also angry, and you need to relieve that, too." Santana explained.

"So what do you want me to do, hit you with it?" The girl remarked, sarcastically.

"Only if you have a death wish." Santana rolled her eyes. "Look around you, Q. The world is your oyster. Or at least this junkyard is. Take a whack at something, see if it doesn't make you feel better."

It was a few minutes of watching Quinn debate whether or not she was up for it before she finally took a whack at the windshield of a totaled car behind her. Santana grinned when the girl took another, shattering the glass completely.

"Why are you so angry, Quinn?" Santana dared, hoping she could get the girl to open up in the midst of her destruction of the already severely damaged vehicle.

"Why the hell do you think, Lopez?" Quinn shot back, moving on to the back window of the car.

"I don't know Q, wanna enlighten me?" Santana yelled over the sound of the bat smashing more glass.

"Try having your girlfriend cheat on you and blame it on the fact that you're graduating, and tell me how you'd feel. Like, what the fuck?" with each word, the bat wielding blonde took her anger out on a different part of the car. Santana could tell the blonde was pissed. She hardly ever swore like that.

"And then offer to forgive her and let it go, only for her to throw it back in your face because with him it's EASIER." Quinn continued angrily.

Santana wasn't at all surprised to hear Sugar had been unfaithful, especially with Artie. But she still hurt for her best friend. She could feel the anger and sadness her friend had coming off in waves. "Just let it all out, Quinn." Santana encouraged.

Soon, Quinn was standing on the hood of the wrecked car, smashing in the roof. The sounds of the bat coming down against the car echoed throughout the yard, alongside the grunt Quinn let out every time she went in for another hit.

It was another couple minutes before the girl had finally worn herself out, dropping the bat and sitting down next to where Santana had made herself comfortable sitting against her own car. "Why do you have a bat in your trunk?"

"In case I gotta go all Lima Heights on somebody." Santana grinned. "How do you feel?"

"Better." Quinn replied, giving her a small smile and Santana could tell it was genuine. "Thank you, San. I really needed this. "

"It's what I'm here for. I come here sometimes when I need to hit something but not go to jail for it" Santana joked. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Santana allowing Quinn to catch her breath.

"So, you want to tell me what that was all about?" Santana questioned.

"Wasn't there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Quinn tried.

"It can wait." Santana pressed.

"Sugar cheated on me with Artie." Quinn responded, flatly.

"I gathered." Santana responded, to which Quinn rolled her eyes.

"When I asked her why," Quinn continued, "she said that she was scared because I would be going off to college and she would still be here and if we stayed together she'd be heartbroken about the distance and it be hard not seeing each other. What sucks is that I get it. It's not something I never thought about. I don't like what she did, but I understand it. I understand why she'd rather be with him. But that doesn't make it hurt any less." she finished, bowing her head.

"Quinn" Santana started, "there's no reason you should ever come second to anyone."

* * *

><p>"Kurt, I need some advice." Rachel informed her best friend as he made his way to their table, caramel macchiato in hand.<p>

"You bought me coffee, I figured you wanted something," he teased good naturedly.

"I'm in love with Quinn." She blurted out.

"Well, you just get right to the point, don't ya?" Kurt replied, unfazed. "So who do you want me to kill?" he continued sarcastically.

"Kurt seriously. I'm in love with her, and now that she and Sugar are over, I finally have a chance. I just need help on how to go about it."

"Wait, before we get ahead of ourselves, how does she feel about you? I'd hate to send you into a mess of unrequited love. It's the absolute worse." The boy said bitterly.

"I'm not entirely sure. I think that she could feel something for me. She always protected me from her friends and other kids at McKinley, she joined glee club, she stopped me from marrying Finn." Rachel listed off, "And yesterday when she drove me home, I swear she was flirting with me."

"Those are all pretty legit reasons," Kurt replied, sipping his coffee.

"Not to mention, she let me keep her hoodie."

The well primped boy's eyebrows shot up at that. "Her hoodie? My my, Rachel Berry, that's a big step. I think we got something to work with here."

"You think so?" Rachel asked, hopeful.

"Yup. Question: What exactly do you need my help with, though?"

"Well, Quinn loves you. I figured you could do a little friendly spying, you know, keep an eye on her so I can know exactly what will work in order to court her."

"Correction, Quinn loves Blaine. She tolerates me by association. I don't think she's ever really forgiven me for the whole 'signing back-up for Artie while he serenaded her girlfriend' thing. I mean, how am I supposed to pass up an opportunity to showcase my immense talent?" The boy asked rhetorically. "Anyway, if you want to breech 'Quinn's Bubble' so to speak, Blaine's the man you want to talk to."

"That really was an awful thing to do, Kurt" Rachel responded. The boy only shrugged. "But do you think Blaine would be of assistance to me?"

"Sure, why not? Blaine loves love." Kurt replied, waiving her off.

Rachel felt giddy at the prospects of finally having her chance to be with Quinn.

Kurt watched Rachel over the top of his coffee. The girl seemed to be in a love-filled daze.

"Ahh, I can't keep quiet anymore." Kurt blurted out, "that look on your face is too much for me to resist."

"What?" Rachel questioned, voicing her confusion.

"Okay, please don't repeat what I'm about to tell you. I promised Blaine I wouldn't tell anyone, but you're my best friend, so it's only fair."

"I promise I won't." Rachel replied hurriedly, anxious to hear what the boy was meant to keep from her.

"Okay, so Blaine told me that he heard from Tina who was with Mercedes last night that Santana was at her house looking for her own advice." Kurt whispered, eyebrows raising at the end.

Rachel was still confused. That wasn't even remotely relevant to her. "Okay?"

"Advice about Quinn." The boy elaborated.

Rachel still wasn't catching on. "She was probably concerned about the whole Sinn breakup." She reasoned.

Kurt grew frustrated. "Rachel! Santana is in love with Quinn, too."

_Well shit. THIS was a disaster. _

* * *

><p><strong>"Pack up and leave everything, don't you see what I can bring?"<strong>

** -Sam Smith**


	4. What's In A Song?

I get chronic migraines sometimes and die a little inside when they come. I apologize for the holdup.

* * *

><p><span><em>Monday<em>

_Pssstttt_

Santana averted her attention from ignoring her English teacher to Mercedes who was discretely trying to get her attention. The gum-chewing cheerleader rolled her eyes; Mercedes really needed to learn how to be more bad-ass. "What can I do for you?" She asked, putting zero effort into lowering her voice. When the teacher glared at her for talking during lesson, she challenged her with a blank stare, popping a bubble when the woman looked away. She turned back to the girl sitting to her left, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"My parents are going away this weekend to get their romance on," Mercedes whispered, choosing to keep her voice low. She didn't have the power of Sue Sylvester on her side to keep her out of trouble.

"Great. You finally gonna give it up to Trouty Mouth?" Santana asked nonchalantly, causing Mercedes to blush profusely.

"No, Satan," She responded harshly after regaining her composer. "I'm going to throw a party."

"Even better. I'll bring booze and my Cheerios." Santana declared. She was stoked at the opportunity to party again. The last party she went to had been the Glee Club's end of semester party at Puck's house. Watching Quinn all enthralled by Sugar all night had guaranteed she'd spent the entire night chugging drinks. Halfway through the party she was trashed. She woke up the next morning in Mercedes' bed with a hangover from hell. She later learned from her friend that she had spent the better half of the party hysterically yelling at anyone who would listen. She was grateful to learn that most of the party-goers had been too drunk to care.

"Or you could bring someone else." Mercedes said suggestively.

Santana side-eyed the girl. "What are you getting at Wheezy?"

"Bring Quinn." Mercedes answered flatly, her face screaming '_DUH'_.

Try as she might, Santana couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks and down to her neck. Deciding this wasn't something for the ears of her nosey peers, she lowered her voice. "I should bring Quinn as my date?" she asked as if it were the most ridiculous request she'd ever heard.

"You asked me to help. This is me helping." Mercedes started. "It's perfect. There'll be good music, everybody will be having fun and you can get her alone to tell her how you feel. Not to mention it's Valentine's Day. Can't get any more romantic than that." Reading the uncertainty all over her friend's face, Mercedes rubbed her back. "It's a lot less pressure than asking her out, right?"

Santana agreed, nodding her head slowly, "But what if she says no?"

"Why would she?" Mercedes challenged. "You've gone to parties together before."

"Yeah, but that was as friends. This is so different." Santana shot back folding her arms.

Mercedes laughed at her friend. "Santana. You're not proposing to the girl. Just inviting her to a party."

"I'm pretty much asking her to be my Valentine. Isn't that the same?" A proposal was a proposal, no matter what you called it.

"If you say so." Mercedes shook her head at her friend's dramatics. She could be worse than Rachel sometimes. "Just ask her to go to the party with you, Santana."

"Fine, I'll ask." Santana gave in. "What do I say?"

"I'm sure you'll figure something out in that devious head of yours." She answered as she poked the girl in the temple.

Santana swatted her hand away. She could just tell Quinn that she needed a ride because she planned to drink. Of course, that wouldn't work if Quinn planned on drinking herself. Which was highly likely. Quinn probably liked drinking more than she did, if she was being honest. Santana growled. She hated this nervousness. Why couldn't she just ask Quinn to go with her?

"Don't tell Berry about the party!" Santana suddenly whispered to Mercedes who had tuned back into the lecture.

"What?"

"Don't tell Berry about the party." Santana repeated eyes wide. "What if she tries to get Quinn to go with her?"

"Santana, I'm inviting all the Glee kids. She's going to find out" Mercedes reasoned. "And even if she does come with Rachel, at least she'll be there and you could still tell her."

"There's no way the dwarf is going to leave her side all night. She's like herpes; you get her and then you're stuck with her. Especially when she's drunk. Even Tubbs couldn't shake her." Santana couldn't get the image of a very drunk Rachel Berry during their regional's win celebration Junior year out of her head. The girl had been a mess.

"Then you better ask her to be you Valentine soon." Mercedes suggested.

"Who are you asking to be your Valentine?" Brittany whispered from the other side of Santana. The blonde had been previously engaged in playing on her phone, paying no attention to the two girls next to her or their teacher.

"I thought you were playing the Kim Kardashian game, Britt." Santana dodged the question. She wasn't quite sure how to tell Brittany about Quinn yet. Though she loved her friend, she couldn't keep her mouth shut to save her life.

"I couldn't figure out how to become Kanye." The blonde shrugged. "Who are you asking to be your Valentine, San? Is it me?"

Mercedes snorted in laughter as Santana rolled her eyes at both her friends.

"No Britt. It's not you."

"Oh good. I've got a feeling Mike is going to ask me. I'm thinking about saying yes." She squealed. Her two friends just nodded, choosing not to state the obvious. Brittany would figure it out on her own. "Is it you, Mercedes?" Brittany guessed, "I always thought you two would be cute together. Your babies would totally look like Reese's cups."

Mercedes and Santana shared a look. "I'm still with Sam." Mercedes responded.

"That's okay. I'm pretty sure you can have more than one Valentine. I once had eight." Neither Santana nor Mercedes doubted the girl statement.

"It's Quinn." Santana blurted in a hushed voice, afraid to give Brittany any more chances to guess.

"Oh, that totally makes sense. You guys are like Rizzoli and Isles." Once again, Santana was shocked by the ease in which her friends accepted her feelings. She could only pray that Quinn's reaction would be similar.

"Rizzoli and Isles aren't together." Mercedes cut in.

"But they should be." Brittany defended. "Just like San and Quinn."

"What do you mean, Britt?" Santana questioned. She once again found herself questioning the obviousness of her own feelings.

"You two have been wanting to get your sweet-lady-kisses on for forever. You're both just like kind of blind and Quinn was with Sugar but now she's not which means you totally can now." Brittany clapped in excitement for her friends. She stopped and frowned a few seconds later, "I am sad for Rachel now, though."

"Berry's feelings are hardly my problem." Santana responded as she soaked in Brittany's explanation. She was beginning to wonder if Quinn had ever noticed her feelings. Everyone else seemed to be privy to them.

"That's mean, San." Brittany scolded. "Hey! What if you both date Quinn? I bet Quinn likes Rachel, too!" Mercedes couldn't help the look she gave the blonde. By now, she was used to Brittany's uncouth ideas, but that one was way out there.

"I have no interest in ending up on sister-wives, Brittany." Santana threw back. "Quinn's mine and I don't plan on sharing." Her tone suggested that she was no longer interested in talking as she turned her attention back to ignoring their teacher. Mercedes did the same as Brittany shrugged and went back to her phone.

* * *

><p>After retrieving her lunch, Santana grabbed a seat next to Brittany. "Brittany, I've got a plan, and I need your help pulling it off."<p>

"Is it a plan to help Lord Tubbington?" She asked hopefully.

"Uh, not this time. It's to get Quinn to like me." Santana started picking through her food. She had spent most of the day after English coming up with a plan to impress Quinn and work up the nerve to ask her to the party. And _technically_, be her valentine.

"Quinn already likes you, San." Brittany stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"I know. But I want to show her that I like-like her. You know how like when Rachel sang all those songs to Finn in glee? I want to do that for Quinn." She tried explaining.

"Oh, okay!" Brittany agreed excitedly. "Do I get to dance?"

"Yup, and I want the Cheerios to help, too. But don't tell them why." She said seriously.

"There're going to want to know why we're all signing to Quinn though." Brittany rationalized as she dug into her own lunch.

"I'll just come up with something." Santana waived off. "Just don't tell them, okay?"

"Okay, I won't." Brittany agreed, giving her pinky to Santana in a pinky promise. "So what're we singing?"

* * *

><p><span><em>Tuesday<em>

Rachel headed towards Quinn's locker as she saw the girl changing her books. She had just heard from Kurt that Mercedes was throwing a Valentine's Day party and she wanted to know if Quinn was planning to make an appearance. Considering all of the Glee kids would be there, Artie and Sugar included, she wasn't sure if the blonde was going to be up for it.

"Quinn." She stated, announcing her presence to the girl.

"Hi Rachel." Quinn greeted as she closed her locker to face the smaller girl. "What's up?"

"I trust you've heard about Mercedes' party slated for Valentine's Day."

"Mmmhmm." Quinn confirmed as she began walking, Rachel walking with her.

"Seeing as all of the glee club will be there, minus Mr. Shue of course considering that would be highly inappropriate, I was curious as to whether you would be attending," came Rachel's long-winded question.

"Of course," Quinn's eyebrows dipped. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Rachel was quiet, not quite sure how to voice her concerns about her friend being at the same party as Artie and Sugar. However, Quinn was a quick girl and caught onto Rachel's unvoiced meaning. "This is about Sugar, huh?"

"I'm just worried about you, Quinn. I don't want you to be uncomfortable and I know Sugar will be there, probably with Artie. Probably as each other's valentine." Rachel laid a hand on Quinn's arm, halting the blonde's walking.

"Don't worry about that, Rach." Quinn smiled, "I'm not. I promise Sugar will be the furthest thing from my mind that night."

"You can't promise that Quinn." Rachel argued. "How do you know seeing her wont upset you?"

"Because I'll be having too much fun with my friends to pay her any mind." Quinn answered, confidently. "Plus, I'll have you there to keep me busy." She finished, poking the little diva in the cheek.

"Of course." Rachel blushed, ducking her head.

"Don't worry too much about it, Rach. It's going to be fun." The blonde squeezed her arm as she made her way to class.

As she stood alone in the hallway, Rachel cursed herself. She had gotten so wrapped up in keeping Quinn away from Sugar that she never got around to suggesting that they show up to the party together. At least she knew Quinn would indeed be there. That was good news. She blushed again as she thought about the beauty's request to "keep her busy" during the party.

She was definitely looking forward to Valentine's Day.

* * *

><p><span><em>Wednesday<em>

Parking her car at the Lima Bean, Santana pulled her phone out to dial Quinn. She waited patiently, knowing the heavy sleeper was more than likely still snoozing. It was finally answered on the fifth ring.

"Hello?" came the gruff voice from the other end.

"Get dressed, Fabray. I'll be over in thirty minutes." Santana demanded. She smirked when she heard the sleepy blonde huff into the phone.

"No."

"Wasn't a question." She laughed as she could practically feel her friend's frustration at being awakened so abruptly.

"Why do you hate me?" Quinn whined into Santana's ear.

"I'm buying your ass coffee and driving you to school. I think they call it love," she singsonged, stepping out of her car and heading into the coffee shop.

"You should have started with the coffee."

Santana laughed into her phone. She was sure Quinn was a step away from needing AA meetings for caffeine addicts. The girl's obsession with coffee was only second to the her obsession with bacon. "You've got thirty minutes, captain." She hung-up the phone, Quinn giving one more indignant huff, and stood in line to order the drinks.

* * *

><p>True to her word, Santana pulled up to Quinn's house thirty minutes later, honking to announce her presence. Clearly having too much fun with the horn, and just a bit hyper from the coffee, Santana didn't ease up on the horn until the disheveled cheerleader came outside clutching her backpack.<p>

"What the hell is wrong with you, Santana?" Quinn demanded, taking the coffee Santana offered as she entered the car.

"Had to make sure your lazy ass wasn't asleep." Santana smirked as she pulled off.

"And just calling never crossed your mind? I wasn't even sleeping." Quinn defended, sipping her coffee.

"Don't spill that shit in my baby." Santana remarked as Quinn not-so-discretely tried to wipe the drops that had escaped and run down her cup.

"No promises." She replied flatly.

"Are you going to Mercedes' party on Saturday?" Santana asked, changing the subject.

"Funny, Rachel asked the same thing." Quinn mentioned as she continued to down her coffee.

_Fuck. _Santana thought. "Why?" she asked, sending a prayer to every deity she could think of that Berry hadn't had the balls to actually ask Quinn to go with her.

"Worried about Sugar. She's just being protective. But yeah, I am."

Santana breathed a sigh of relief. She still had time. "You're not asking for the same reason are you?" Quinn asked with narrowed eyes. "I promise I'm fine."

"Of course not, Fabray. You haven't mentioned it, so I just wanted to make sure. Can't fuck shit up by myself."

"As if you need my help with that." Quinn laughed. "Plan on drinking yourself stupid again?"

"Only if you plan on matching me." Santana shot back challengingly.

Quinn quirked her eyebrow, "That sounded like a dare, Lopez."

"It is what it is, Fabray."

"What will your date think once you've lost?" Quinn shot back, lips quirking into her own smirk.

"Who said anything about a date?" Santana inquired.

"You plan on being your own valentine this year?" Quinn joked.

"Who needs a valentine when I've got you?"

"Aww, are you asking me to be your valentine, Santana?" Quinn asked in mock flattery.

"Bite me, Fabray." Santana mumbled, embarrassed at having let that slip out.

Quinn laughed as she poked her irritated friend's cheek. "I'll be your drinking buddy, but I'm getting ready at your place." She declared, not moving her finger until Santana flicked it away.

"Don't want Mama Fabray to see her baby drunk off her ass?" Santana joked, imitating her best baby voice.

"I don't think that's something any mother wants to see." Quinn quipped. "It'll be easier if she just assumes I'm sleeping at your place."

"Touché, Fabray. You cool with us staying at 'Cede's place?" Santana asked as they pulled into McKinley's student parking lot, Quinn nodding her approval.

"So why are we here so early? Pretty sure the janitors aren't even here yet." Quinn questioned as Santana began leading her to the football field.

"You'll see Q."

When they got to the field, Brittany along with the rest of the Cheerios were there waiting for them.

"Why are the Cheerios here? Pretty sure practice is after school today." Quinn asked dubiously.

"You ask a lot of questions, Quinn." Santana answered as she backed away from her towards a radio sat on a bench. "Just sit back and enjoy."

As the music started, the Cheerios get in formation as Brittany appeared at Quinn's side, grabbing her hand.

Brittany started to sing as she led Quinn to the bench to sit.

_Yo, my best friend, best friends 'til the very end  
><em>_Cause best friends best friends don't have to pretend  
><em>_You need a hand and I'm right there right beside you  
><em>_You in the dark, I'll be the bright light to guide you_

Moving towards the blondes, Santana took over the next part of the song. The Cheerios behind them started going through the choreography they had learned for this performance.

_Member the times, times, times sneaking out the house  
><em>_All of the times, times, times that you had your doubts  
><em>_And don't forget all the trouble we got into  
><em>_We got something you can't undo, do_

Quinn looked surprised when the Cheerios sang the next verse and Brittany pulled her up from her seat and twirled her around.

_Laughing so damn hard  
><em>_Crashed your dads new car  
><em>_All the scars we share  
><em>_I promise, I swear_

Santana began to sing again as Brittany let go of Quinn to join the dancing Cheerios.

_Wherever you go, just always remember  
><em>_That you got a home for now and forever  
><em>_And if you get low, just call me whenever  
><em>_This is my oath to you_

Santana grinned, as Quinn seemed to be overcome with laughter from the wild gestures her teammates were making towards her.

_Wherever you go, just always remember  
><em>_You never alone, we're birds of a feather  
><em>_And we'll never change, no matter the weather  
><em>_This is my oath to you_

Santana wasn't at all surprised when Quinn jumped in to help sing the next part. It was, after all, her favorite part of the song.

_I know I drive you crazy, mm, sometimes  
><em>_I know I called you lazy, and that's most times  
><em>_But you complete me, and that's no lie  
><em>_You are my tuxedo, and I'm your bow tie  
><em>_We in the car sing, sing, singing our song  
><em>_Rocking the building, tear it down, like we king Kong  
><em>_And in my eyes you can't do, do no wrong  
><em>_You got the best friends sing, sing along_

She guided the blonde back to the bench as the singing Cheerios surrounded her around the bench.

_Laughing so damn hard  
><em>_Crashed your dads new car  
><em>_All the scars we share  
><em>_I promise, I swear  
><em>

_Wherever you go, just always remember  
><em>_That you got a home for now and forever  
><em>_And if you get low, just call me whenever  
><em>_This is my oath to you_

_Wherever you go, just always remember  
><em>_You never alone, we're birds of a feather  
><em>_And we'll never change, no matter the weather  
><em>_This is my oath to you_

When the cheerleaders finished their song, Quinn jumped up applauding them all. "That was so great! When did you guys even have time to practice that? And, not that I didn't love it, but why am I being serenaded?" Quinn asked, laughingly.

"It was all San's idea," Brittany winked, nudging the now blushing brunette, making Quinn turn her eyes to the girl who was looking away shyly.

"So this obviously explains the early wake-up call." Quinn grinned.

"Santana brought it to our attention that this is our last year having you as our captain and that we should do something special to honor the best captain we've ever had." Marina, a junior on the squad answered, the rest of the cheerios nodded their agreement. "Three national championships when we take it this year!"

"You're a kick-ass captain, Quinn!" declared another.

"You've always had our back, Q. Especially when it comes to coach. So we wanted to make sure that you know we've got yours." Santana spoke up, her fellow Cheerios nodding unison.

Though Santana meant what she said about performing the song in honor of Quinn's captaincy, she herself, of course, had other motives. She couldn't outright tell the girl that she was more or less serenading her in front of all the Cheerios (more in fear of rejection that anyhing else), but she hoped that the song had conveyed just how much she cared about the girl. When the girl of her dreams pulled her into a tight hug, she couldn't help but feel like it had.

The rest of the Cheerios joined in on what they assumed was a group hug. "Thank you. I couldn't have asked for a better team." Quinn said graciously, and Santana squeezed her tighter.

"That was possibly the sloppiest show I've ever witnessed and I watched Bret Michael's sex-tape. Twice." Sue yelled through her bullhorn, interrupting the cheerleaders on the field. "If you sloppy babies want to have an orgy, do it somewhere else. I don't need you stinking up my field with your mediocrity. But since you all seem so inclined to be here, practice starts NOW."

Sue smirked when she heard the collective –and familiar- groan coming from her Cheerios as they moved to take their positions.

Santana, for her part, couldn't keep the grin off of her face if she tried. Quinn had obviously been taken by her song, not to mention she had gotten the girl to agree to go to the party with her. Granted, they weren't exactly each other's valentines, but they would be spending the day together. That gave her ample time to tell Quinn how she felt. And to top it all off, she had beaten Berry to it.

* * *

><p>"So, did you hear about the surprise Cheerio's performance this morning" Kurt asked as he sat down next to Rachel during their lunch period.<p>

"Unfortunately, I did." Rachel huffed. "Could she be cheesier?"

"Weren't you planning to do exactly the same thing?" Kurt asked raising an eyebrow.

"_Am _planning." She corrected. "And I was referring to the choice of song."

"Oh, Rachel stop it." Kurt admonished, "It's a great song. Kind of cute in a sweet way. Honestly, wouldn't have thought Santana could pull it off."

"Whose side are you on here, Kurt?" Rachel leveled the boy with a glare. He just shrugged it off, far too use to her glares by now.

"Sweetie, of course I'm on your side. However, I can't help but appreciate the Cher of it all. No one can say Santana doesn't have great taste in music." He defended.

"Ughhh, serenading Quinn was my idea!" She groaned in frustration. She couldn't believe that Santana Lopez had actually serenaded Quinn. Albeit under the guise of some type of 'Cheerio appreciation,' it was a serenade nonetheless.

"Rachel, you and Santana are hardly the first to ever serenade Quinn." Kurt stated, "There was Finn, Puck, even the garbling that Sugar tried to pass off as signing." The boy ticked off on his hand. "Hell, that's probably the most overused gesture in glee club at this point."

He put his hands up when Rachel once again glared at him. "That's not to say it's not a great idea!" he backtracked.

"It doesn't matter. Quinn may have been serenaded before, but my serenade will be the best she's ever had. It's all about song choice and performance. While Santana may have gone first, her song couldn't be more ambiguous if it had been in a completely different language." Rachel reasoned.

"You've got a point there." Kurt agreed. "It could be easily interpreted as a song about friendship. Probably why it was so easy to get the other cheerios involved."

"Precisely. I plan on being as blunt as possible." The short girl declared.

"What song are you singing?" Kurt was curious. Rachel had yet to divulge what song she would be singing. He wasn't surprised, though. She hardly ever revealed a song she planned to sing. She was dramatic like that.

"You'll see!" She beamed. He could only roll his eyes at the expected answer.

"Are you going to ask her to be your valentine?" Kurt asked as the many pink and red decorations scattered around the cafeteria distracted him from his lunch.

"That all depends on how she takes the song." Rachel answered honestly. "At this point I still don't know how she feels about me. Hopefully, the song will help clear that up."

"Do you think Santana's asked?" He whispered.

"I don't think so. When I spoke to Quinn earlier, she didn't mention it. I feel like she would." She answered in her own lowered voice.

_I hope._

* * *

><p>When Glee finally rolled around, Rachel waited until everyone was present, more specifically Quinn, before she announced to Mr. Shue that she had a song to sing. All eyes focused on her as she moved to the front of the room. "I would like to dedicated this song to someone very special to me." she smiled.<p>

She started out low as Brad began playing the piano chords.

_I'll never be  
>A knight in armor<br>With a sword in hand,  
>Or a kamikaze fighter;<br>_

She looked up at Quinn as she moved to the next verse.

_Don't count on me  
>To storm the barricades<br>And take a stand,  
>Or hold my ground;<br>You'll never see  
>Any scars or wounds<br>I don't walk on coals,  
>I won't walk on water:<br>_

Santana scowled. She's wasn't the only one.

_I am no prince,  
>I am no saint,<br>I am not anyone's wildest dream,  
>But I will stand behind<br>And be someone to fall back on.  
><em>

Everyone turned to the left as Finn suddenly appeared at the drumset, drumming along to the song.

_Some comedy  
>You're bruised and beaten down<br>And I am the one  
>Who's looking for a favor.<br>Still, honestly,  
>You don't believe me<br>But the things I have  
>Are the things you need.<br>_

Rachel moved closer to her peers, pulling Kurt from his seat who began dancing around her.

_You look at me  
>Like I don't make sense,<br>Like a waste of time,  
>Like it serves no purpose -<br>_

As many of the Gleeks got up to join Kurt on the floor, Rachel went to grab Quinn out of her chair, pulling the girl with her.

_I am no prince,  
>I am no saint,<br>And if that's what you believe you need,  
>You're wrong - you don't need much,<br>You need someone to fall back on...  
><em>

As Rachel hit the next verse, everyone was up and dancing, save for Santana and Sugar. Santana glowered as she watched Rachel pull Quinn around the room. Sugar gazed down at the two sadly.

_And I'll be that:  
>I'll take your side.<br>If I'm the only one,  
>I'm used to that.<br>I've been alone,  
>I'd rather be<br>The half of us,  
>The least of you,<br>The best of me.  
><em>

Rachel passed Quinn to Blaine as she continued to serenade the girl, the gleeks dancing all around them.

_And I will be  
>I'll be your prince,<br>I'll be your saint,  
>I will go crashing through fences<br>In your name. I will, I swear -  
>I'll be someone to fall back on!<br>_

Blaine lead Quinn back to a seat in the front as Rachel neared the end of her song.

_I'll be the one who waits,  
>And for as long as you'll let me,<br>I will be the one you need.  
>I'll be someone to fall back on<br>_

The rest of the kids made their way back to their seats, leaving Rachel the only one left standing.

_I'll be someone to fall back on  
>one to fall back on...<em>

The applause came immediately after she finished, Quinn herself getting up to hug the songbird. Rachel returned the embrace as the kids around them continued to clap, all the while looking in different places.

Mercedes and Brittany looked concernedly at Santana who looked ready to pop a vein as she sent Rachel the iciest glare she could muster.

Artie stared confusedly at Sugar who seemed a little too off-put by the performance for his liking.

Kurt and Blaine beamed at Rachel, proud of their friend's performance.

And Rachel. Rachel just continued to gaze at Quinn.

* * *

><p><em><span>Thursday<span>_

Just as Quinn sat down with her lunch, two of her favorite people bombarded her. Mercedes slid into the seat on her left as Blaine did the same on her right. "What can I do for you guys?" She barely looked up, too heavily concentrated on the bacon-covered cheeseburger in her hand. Sue would kill her if she saw, but she honestly couldn't help herself. She prayed Becky wasn't lurking in the shadows, as per usual.

The two brunettes shared a look across Quinn before addressing the blonde between them. "You got serenaded yesterday…" Mercedes started.

"Twice." Blaine added.

"Yup." Quinn shrugged. "I've got great friends. Who clearly wanted to show me that they're there for me. I appreciated it."

"Quinn, we care about you." Blaine started slowly "And we're not serenading you."

"Guess Rachel and Santana like me more." The girl joked as she closed her eyes in appreciation. God, how she loved bacon.

"Way more." Mercedes mumbled to herself.

Unbeknownst to Quinn, her two friends had been sent to gauge her thoughts about the performances.

"I wasn't there for Santana's number, but Brittany's told me great things." Blaine said. He scrunched his face as he watched Quinn practically inhale the burger in her hand.

"Oh yeah, it was fantastic. Definitely didn't see that one coming." She said as she finished her bite.

"Would you say that you liked it more?" Mercedes tried.

"Hmm, no." Quinn started "They were both really sweet." Both brunettes rolled their eyes.

Finishing her lunch, Quinn now gave her friends her undivided attention, "Did you both come here because you wanted to talk about the songs?"

"We just wanted to know if there was anything _you _wanted to talk about," Blaine said slowly, making eye contact with Mercedes, "retrospective of the songs."

"Not really. I did really like them." Quinn answered. "Both Santana and Rachel have been really supportive of Sugar and I breaking up." She smiled to herself.

Quinn frowned when she noticed the unsatisfied looks on her friend's faces. "Am I missing something?"

"Of course not!" Mercedes attempted to cover. Quinn didn't look convinced. "Honest, Quinn. We just wanted to talk to you. We're glad you liked the songs."

"Yeah, it's not everyday somebody gets serenaded twice." Blaine grinned. "Rachel and Santana are both great for being there for you."

"True." Quinn agreed. "I'm a lucky girl.

* * *

><p>Santana was pissed, and everyone around her knew it. She had spent the entire night trying to calm herself down after Rachel's performance and for a while, she had. However, when she woke in the morning, she remembered and was pissed all over again. She hadn't run into Rachel all day, and she had an inkling the shorter girl was hiding from her. She, however, was determined to give the diva a piece of her mind.<p>

She almost let out a war cry when she spotted the girl waking to the choir room at the end of the day. Rachel spotted her, stopped walking and stared her down. Santana kept walking until they were standing toe-to-toe.

"Back off, hobbit."

"No way in hell, Satan."

"She belongs to me." Santana retorted, eyes boring into Rachel's.

"She's mine." Rachel met her glare

"You ladies plan on joining us?" Mr. Shue interrupted, opening the door. He could hear them arguing from inside the choir room.

Breaking their stare down, Santana pushed past the little diva and entered the choir room, determined to finish it afterwards. However, before she made it to her seat she heard Rachel start singing _**at **_her.

_I think it's time we got this straight  
>Let's sit and talk face to face<br>There is no way you could mistake  
>Him for your man - are you insane <em>

Rachel starred Santana down as the rest of the glee club looked at her in confusion. Santana, never one to back down from a challenge, stepped back up to the girl.

_You see I know that you may be  
>Just a bit jealous of me<br>But you're blind if you can't see  
>That his love is all in me<em>

Santana sang right back at her, circling around crooning brunette. Mr. Shue, for the life of him, couldn't figure out if they were actually having a standoff or just performing. The other gleeks didn't seem to be having that problem as they watched on anxiously.

_You see I tried to hesitate  
>I didn't wanna say what he told me<br>He said without me he couldn't make  
>It through the day ain't that a shame<br>_

Rachel continued as she began her own circle, the two now resembling two lionesses in battle.

_Maybe you misunderstood  
>Cause I can't see how he could<br>Wanna change something that's so good  
>Because my love is all it took<em>

Puck and Sam seemed to be readying themselves to breakup a fight that seemed highly likely with the tension crackling like lightning as the two nemesis sang the next verse.

_You need to give it up  
><em>_Had about enough  
><em>_It's not hard to see  
><em>_The boy is mine  
><em>_I'm sorry that you  
><em>_Seem to be confused  
><em>_He belongs to me  
><em>_The boy is mine_

Mercedes and Blaine shared a look before they both looked at Quinn. She looked beyond lost. She was the only one at this point.

_Must you do the things you do  
>Keep on acting like a fool<br>You need to know it's me not you  
>And if you didn't know it girl it's true<br>_

Santana was back in Rachel's face hoping to intimidate the smaller girl into backing down.

_I think that you should realize  
>And try to understand why<br>He is a part of my life  
>I know it's killing you inside<em>

Rachel refused to back down. Not when it was Quinn's heart on the line.

_You can't destroy this love I found _  
><em>You're silly games I won't allow<br>The boy is mine without a doubt  
>You might as well throw in the towel<em>

The closer Rachel got to her face, the more frustrated Santana got, and it showed in her voice.

_What makes you think that he wants you  
>When I'm the one that brought him to<br>This special place in my heart  
>Cause he was my love right from from the start <em>

Rachel seemed to be feeling the frustration as well, as her voice rose in pitch.

_The boy is mine _

A hard glare._  
><em>

_Not yours _

Sam and Puck moved closer_.  
><em>

_But mine _

Quinn knitted her eyebrows._  
><em>

_Not yours _

Tina looked on the verge of tears._  
><em>

_But mine _

Brittany yelled for them to stop the violence.

_Not yours _

Sugar hid behind her hands.

_But mine  
><em>

Finn prayed to Cheesus_. _

_I'm sorry that you  
>Seem to be confused<br>He belongs to me  
>The boy is mine<em>

As the song finished, Puck and Sam were on the floor separating the girls as Santana shoved the pouncing girl out of her face. The whole room broke out into commotion as Mr. Shue got in the middle of the girls who, though being held back, were still trying to get at each other. "Whoa whoa whoa! What's going on here?!" He yelled at the two girls, neither pausing to answer.

"Figgin's office! Now!"

With the strength of both Puck and Sam, he got both girls out of the room and lead them down to Figgin's office, leaving the rest of the kids sitting in silence. All astonished by the fight that had just broke out. None more astonished than Quinn, though.

"What the hell was that?" Quinn's confusion broke the silence and suddenly all eyes were on her. Nobody answered her, though. "Who are they fighting over?" She tried again.

"You." Everybody turned to look at Sugar who had relayed the soft answer.

As the girl made her way out of the room, Quinn sat in stunned silence. "They were fighting over _me_?"

* * *

><p>I so badly wanted to use Jackson &amp; McCarthy's "The Girl is Mine" but it was Just. Too. Slow. I am sorry.<p>

Your support of this story thus far has been greatly appreciated as well as your feedback. I thrive on criticism. (I'm a masochist.) {Not actually}


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